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In a pivotal decision late Friday, a federal judge in New York mandated that the Trump administration reinstate funding for a critical rail tunnel project connecting New York and New Jersey. This ruling comes at a crucial juncture, as plans were underway to halt construction on this significant infrastructure endeavor.
The judicial order follows a contentious decision earlier this year by the Trump administration to withdraw $16 billion in funding. The administration’s move was justified by citing concerns over the then-ongoing government shutdown and what officials described as unconstitutional expenditures related to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Presiding over the case was U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas, who granted a temporary restraining order in favor of New York and New Jersey. This order prevents the federal government from withholding the funds, at least until a preliminary injunction is considered. Such an injunction would ensure the project’s financing remains uninterrupted as legal proceedings continue.
“The Court is also persuaded that Plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction,” Judge Vargas emphasized in her ruling. “Plaintiffs have adequately shown that the public interest would be harmed by a delay in a critical infrastructure project.” This highlights the potential widespread impact of any disruption to the project’s progress.
As of Friday night, both the White House and the U.S. Department of Transportation have yet to provide any comments regarding the judge’s decision, despite inquiries seeking their response.
New York Attorney General Letitia James called the ruling “a critical victory for workers and commuters in New York and New Jersey.”
“I am grateful the court acted quickly to block this senseless funding freeze, which threatened to derail a project our entire region depends on,” James said in a statement. “The Hudson Tunnel Project is one of the most important infrastructure projects in the nation, and we will keep fighting to ensure construction can continue without unnecessary federal interference.”
The panel overseeing the project, the Gateway Development Commission, had said work would stop late Friday afternoon because of the federal funding freeze, resulting in the immediate loss of about 1,000 jobs as well as thousands of additional jobs in the future.
It was not immediately clear when work would resume. The commission said in a statement Friday night that “We are hopeful this means funding disbursements will resume soon, and we can restart site operations and get our workers back on the job.”
The new tunnel is meant to ease strain on an existing, over 110-year-old tunnel that connects New York and New Jersey for Amtrak and commuter trains, where delays can lead to backups up and down the East Coast.
New York and New Jersey sued over the funding pause this week, as did the Gateway Development Commission, moving to restore the Trump administration’s support.
The suspension was seen as way for the Trump administration to put pressure on Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, whom the White House was blaming for a government shutdown last year. The shutdown was resolved a few weeks later.
Speaking to the media on Air Force One on Friday night, Trump was asked about reports that he would unfreeze funding for the tunnel project if Schumer would agree to a plan to rename Penn Station in New York and Dulles International Airport in Virginia after Trump.
“Chuck Schumer suggested that to me, about changing the name of Penn Station to Trump Station. Dulles Airport is really separate,” Trump responded.
Schumer responded on social media: “Absolute lie. He knows it. Everyone knows it. Only one man can restart the project and he can restart it with the snap of his fingers.”
At a hearing in the states’ lawsuit earlier Friday in Manhattan, Shankar Duraiswamy, of the New Jersey attorney general’s office, told the judge that the states need “urgent relief” because of the harm and costs that will occur if the project is stopped.
“There is literally a massive hole in the earth in North Bergen,” he said, referring to the New Jersey city and claiming that abandoning the sites, even temporarily, “would pose a substantial safety and public health threat.”
Duraiswamy said the problem with shutting down now is that even a short stoppage would cause longer delays because workers will be laid off and go off to other jobs and it’ll be hard to quickly remobilize if funding becomes available. And, he added, “any long-term suspension of funding could torpedo the project.”
Tara Schwartz, an assistant U.S. attorney arguing for the government, disagreed with the “parade of horribles” described by attorneys for the states.
She noted that the states had not even made clear how long the sites could be maintained by the Gateway Development Commission. So the judge asked Duraiswamy, and he said they could maintain the sites for a few weeks and possibly a few months, but that the states would continue to suffer irreparable harm because trains would continue to run late because they rely on an outdated tunnel.
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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.
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